Another sob... Kris had her doubts before, but now she was absolutely sure that Kelly was crying. It's now or never, Munroe. She jumped down from her bed and kneeled close to Kelly's head. The other Angel was facing the wall and seemed unaware of Kris' action. A cautious hand hovered over Kelly's shoulder, hesitating only for a second before it was finally gently rested on its target. "I'm so sorry, Kelly." She said in a low voice. They had already been ordered to go to sleep and all the lights were out.

The touch had been intriguing enough, but the uttered words truly had no explanation. Kelly turned around to face Kris, not caring if the other Angel saw her tear stained cheeks. "I don't understand. What are you sorry for?" Kris lowered her eyes. If she wanted Kelly to be honest with her and let her know what had happened between her and Sabrina, she needed to be honest as well.

"Last night, I was there, Kelly. When I arrived at Bree's, I saw you, battling with yourself in front of her door." Kelly opened her eyes wide, but Kris took her hand in hers and continued, not wanting to be deterred from what she wanted to do. "It made me think. It occurred to me that you've been battling with yourself for a while now, even if at times it felt like you were battling me." Kelly was horrified when it dawned on her how unfair she had been with the woman in front of her who was such a gentle soul. She tried to excuse her behavior but Kris again kept her from interrupting. "It's okay, really. I didn't understand what was going on, but now, I think I do." Kris gently lifted Kelly's face by placing a couple of fingers under her chin. "You're in love with her, with Sabrina, aren't you?" Kris wasn't entirely sure if that was the case, but she was a detective and so far, all clues pointed to that line of reasoning.

Kelly finally had a chance to talk, but now that she had it she rebelled against it. She was hurting, truly hurting. Confessing her love for Sabrina at the moment felt more like a self betrayal than anything else. What was the point? Really. She didn't need to talk about how she felt. She just needed to get rid of the feeling. It was what she wanted, wasn't it?

Kris could almost hear Kelly's conflicting thoughts. She pulled her friend to a sitting position and then sat by her side. "Last night, after you entered the apartment, I tried to wait as long as I could to give you guys time to talk things out. But I guess it didn't work."

"Oh no, Kris, it did work. I learned what I needed to move on with my life, because you're right. I do love her, with all my heart. But you see, the problem is she doesn't love me. She just doesn't " Kelly's tears drowned the last part of her sentence, and Kris embraced her, wishing she could protect her from the pain. But she couldn't believe that Sabrina didn't love Kelly. It was just not possible; she had seen enough evidence to the contrary.

"Kelly, I think you're wrong." Kelly looked at her intently, with a side of hopefulness. Kris didn't want to be bearer of false hope, nor did she want to add to Kelly's suffering, but she wanted her friend to make sure of what Sabrina really felt before letting herself be consumed with grief. "It's not that she has said anything to me, but, just as I figured out that you really didn't hate me again, you are forgiven, I've noticed that Bree seems to have a very special place in her heart just for you." Kelly didn't look at all convinced. Okay, change of plans. "Tell me something, Kel, did she actually tell you that she did not love you?"

Kelly pondered the question for a while, without pressure and uninterrupted. A no, a rejection, is something so absolute and devastating in its purpose. It closes the door in such a way that it is no longer appealing to open it again, from neither side of it. The sound of rejection was almost impossible to forget; its effect, almost impossible to survive. But then again, she was not given a 'no' for an answer, she hadn't been rejected. The only answer she was given was silence; a deafening silence that was unfortunately forced on her, on them both. Kelly's eyes rested on Kris', keeping the accusations out of them, for Kris had been part of the problem, and now, she was trying to be part of the solution. "No." She finally responded softly and much calmer. "She said nothing. She didn't have time."

"I see you really have a reason to hate me a little after all." Kris said a little embarrassed.

"So that's why you were apologizing." Kelly told her, finally understanding Kris' first words. "I don't hate you, Kris. Thank you for what you are trying to do." Kelly left the bed and gazed at the dark sky through the tiny window of their cell. "It doesn't change things much, you know. I gave her a chance to say something, to do something the night before, and she walked away from me. Now you tell me, what am I suppose to think?"

Kris went to stand next to her, facing Kelly's profile. "You're supposed to think that she was caught off guard, or that she was scared, or thinking too much for her own good. I don't know. Just give her the benefit of the doubt, Kelly." Kris placed her arm around Kelly's shoulders. "The price of being wrong it's much higher than what you are making yourself pay right now; the reward, infinitely more sweet and fulfilling. Not to mention fun." Kris winked at her, smiling like a school girl. Kelly however, looked at her very seriously.

"Kris, everything aside, are you okay with, you know, this? I don't know what is going to happen but, will you be comfortable working with someone who is-"

" a wonderful person in love with another wonderful person?" Kris cut her off putting words in Kelly's mouth. "Definitely!"

"Come on, Kris, I'm being serious." Kris saw that Kelly really needed reassurance that on top of everything she wasn't going to be rejected for who she was.

"I was being serious, but let me rephrase that. You and Bree are two of the most important people in my life, and my best friends. I care about you, and I love you both dearly. Nothing else matters." Kris' smile was one of pure sincerity.

Kelly returned her smile feeling strangely uplifted, but also very relieved and grateful. Perhaps Kris was right. Maybe she had demanded too much too soon, and compounded the situation by being impatient. She never knew herself to have so many shortcomings. Then again, she had never been so crazy in love before. Bree, I've been so unfair to you. "Maybe you're right, Kris. I should wait until she gets a real chance to say how she feels before deciding anything." And I so hope you're right. "I'm sorry for treating you the way I've treated you these past few days. It's just No, there's no excuse." Kelly corrected herself.

"I understand. I think that you were just a little jealous of me." Kris stated simply; then, almost immediately "Why were you jealous of me?" Kris moved in front of Kelly so she could look at her face. "Did you think I was interested in her? That I wanted her?"

Kelly's eyes studied the wall behind Kris from corner to corner, trying to avoid eye contact due to her embarrassment. "Kelly?"

"Yes, all right but only for a moment. I was being irrational I guess. But I know, I know that you were only trying to get to know her better, and me too. It's just that you wanted to know so much about her, and I admit, for a while I couldn't decide what bothered me more; you asking me things about her, or you asking her yourself." Kelly covered her face with both hands. "God, I was horrible to you. I'm sorry, Kris." Kelly uncovered her face and looked directly into Kris' eyes. "Would you forgive me?"

"Kelly, you weren't that bad, and I already told you all is forgiven. But for the record, you are right. I only wanted to get to know her better, but you know how she is, how sometimes she can be a little inaccessible. So I asked you. I really didn't mean anything by it."

Kelly sighed loudly, still feeling terribly ashamed. "Don't worry about it, Kelly. Jealousy makes some people do and say unspeakable things that are unexpected and hardly forgivable. Things that made those people truly deserving of their own land in hell. Things-"

"Kris!"

"The point is I'll recover eventually." Kris started to laugh and Kelly joined her, feeling much better than she had for the past two days.

"Thank you, Kris."

"What are friends for?"

"And that you are." They hugged each other. Kelly feeling blessed for having someone to stand by her in her darkest hour, and Kris feeling satisfied for having been able to help Kelly trade her tears for laughter, and doom for hope.

The beautiful mansion and its landscape, a true testament of sophisticated taste and luxury, gave faith of the power of money. The atrocious dealings of shame and pain taking place inside that very mansion were also the result of that power. The voice of a man is only as thunderous as the strangled voice of the one he speaks over. Except the voices being quieted this night were not those of men, but of women that had been stripped of their last vestige of self worth and reduced to mere objects. Their souls sold to too many devils without their consent. From hell, to hell, to hell; they were delivered from prison, to the hands of strangers, and even death. Strangled voices indeed.

"Good evening, Warden." The young man opened the door for him as he always did. He recognized his face, but didn't remember his name. It didn't matter. He, as many others in the mansion, was there to serve him and his distinguished clientele. He wasn't important, none of them were, unless they did something wrong, and then they just became dead.

"What's the word, Randy?" The Warden asked Miranda as soon as he reached her. She wasn't wearing her uniform but wearing casual clothes, like she was there to socialize when in reality she was there to guard. And guarding she was, the most valuable things in the mansion that night. The girls, the women, the whores, the pearls, or whatever other names the clients decided to call them. She just called them convicts.

"Everything is in order. No complaints. Sir," She rushed to say when the Warden started to walk away. " he is waiting for you in your office." The Warden groaned loudly and as his steps took him farther from her she heard him say something along the lines of him needing a swatter.

As soon as the Warden entered his office the sweet stench of his very expensive Cuban cigars filled his nostrils. Not only was the man in his office rude and arrogant, he also didn't respect boundaries. "Carl."

The District Attorney turned from the window at the sound of his name without a hint of concern for having helped himself to the older man's property. "We have a situation." As was typical of him no pleasantries were spared, those were saved for the people whose opinion mattered or for when the occasion called for it.

"I know. Your boy Tony called me." The Warden said taking a seat behind his desk and putting his cigars away in a drawer which he then proceeded to lock.

"That creep! And he is not my boy. I can't stand the sight of him. He is just a necessary evil." Gallagher started to pace the length of the office. "You have to have everything ready by Sunday."

"The girls are working as fast as they can. But you know, we haven't tested it yet, and I rather not do it inside, like the last time. We have to avoid the unnecessary heat."

"I can't get involve in that. Do you expect me to do everything for you?" The older man resisted the urge to insult him. After all, it wouldn't do well to get on the bad side of this man. So, he bit his tongue, for now. He also reminded himself that his back was not completely against the wall. With old age came wisdom, and his had made him prepare himself for this swim among these sharks.

"No need, I already made some arrangements."

"Good. Another thing," He continued without pause. " we need some fresh faces on the auction wall. You know, revamp the pool. We wouldn't want our clients to get tired of the service we provide. I'm starting to recognize some of them way too easily, and these are faces I don't need to remember."

"Sit down, Carl. You are giving me a headache." Carl sat down; there was no need for him to wear himself out. "You very well know that it is not easy to find girls that meet all of our requirements. But I'll tell Becker to look into the files from this last month to see if there are any prospects. Happy?" He couldn't care less if the other man was happy or not. He just wanted him off his back.

"I'm just-"

A knock on the door cut short whatever he was going to say. The Warden gave the order to whoever it was to enter and the door was opened to reveal Tony, as unfashionable as ever. Carl Gallagher jumped out of his chair. "What are you doing here? Was I not clear enough the last time we spoke?"

"Mr. Gallagher, you seem to be a little confused. I was invited here by the Warden himself. I have yet to develop the need to enjoy your company more than once a day." Gallagher couldn't think of anyone who could behave more like a snake than the man in front of him.

"That's right, Carl. I invited him. Remember the arrangement we were talking about before? Tony will be handling that. And since our business is concluded, would you give us some privacy, please?" The Warden said, savoring the opportunity to practically throw the other man out of his office.

Tony didn't even make the attempt to take a seat. He had dealt with people of this kind long enough to know he was not welcomed anywhere, just merely tolerated. The Warden opened a desk drawer and grabbed a light blue plastic case that he then handed to him. He opened it to inspect its content.

"That should be enough. Make sure to test it as soon as possible, and don't forget to let me know the results."

"Tomorrow, I know exactly-"

"I'm not interested in who or where, just how. Understand?" The Warden gestured with his extended arm the way out, thus ending the conversation.

Tony nodded his understanding and left without another word. He didn't take offense nor did he bother to even care; that's just the way things were. For everyone involved there was no friendship to speak of, no camaraderie, solidarity, and no trust; not even honor. The only thing keeping them together was the very lucrative business that would make them all a little richer. Forging dangerous affiliations that mirrored ticking bombs was also the power of money.